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City, Parkview close to financial agreement for SR 205 project

By the next Columbia City Common Council meeting, the city should have an agreement ready with Parkview Health System Inc. for its share of the costs for the upcoming state Route 205 construction project. Columbia City Mayor Jim Fleck said Friday at the board of works meeting that a proposed agreement is in place with Parkview for the contribution to the city for the local match of the project. “Upon acceptance of that agreement, we will receive a check,” Fleck said. Negotiations were in the works for several months as the city and Parkview worked on who will cover what portion of the local match for the roughly $4 million project. The city received a $2.9 million grant from the Indiana Department of Transportation and a grant from Group III for $330,000 to help with the project. Those funds can be used for construction, some utilities and construction inspection, and are in the form of grants for which the city must match 20 percent of each grant. A $500,000 earmark from Congress for the project has no local match required. Included in the budget for the project is a preliminary engineering contract for $451,855, right-of-way acquisition costs of $75,000, estimated construction costs of $2.85 million and estimated construction inspection costs of about $315,000. INDOT will fund 80 percent of the construction, construction inspection and reimbursable utility relocation costs, and will reimburse half of the local match to be used as credit toward engineering and right-of-way costs. Just less than 20 percent of the project will be covered by local funds from the city and Parkview. Parkview’s contribution to the city will be up to half of the roughly $700,000 needed in local funds. The city is still waiting for approval of the environmental impact study for the project, which was submitted several months ago to the state level. Construction for the project cannot begin until INDOT reviews and approves the study. The project will involve lowering the hill on state Route 205 near the entrance to Peabody Public Library, adding lanes between U.S. 30 and the bridge with Blue River, and aligning the entrance to Morsches Park with Towerview Drive. A public hearing for the project is scheduled for January 2011 and the project is not scheduled to go to bid until spring of 2012.